1. Technical Field
This invention relates generally to lighters which consume fuel such as, for example, butane which is stored in a reservoir in a liquid state, then passed through a valve means and finally ignited by a spark or other similar means. More particularly, the invention relates to a butane cigarette lighter having a feature which interferes with depression of a valve actuator and in turn hinders expulsion of fuel from a valve nozzle (i.e., fuel nozzle) and/or generation of sparks thereby rendering operation of the lighter by young children even more difficult. Advantageously, this feature of the lighter may be deactivated by moving a latch to a non-interfering position, thus facilitating flame production.
2. Description of the Art
Numerous lighters are known, some of them incorporating features which are designed to render operation of the lighter more difficult by certain users. Some of such features relate to mechanisms which are designed to prevent ignition of a fuel source unless the lighter is properly oriented, mechanisms which are designed to automatically turn off a fuel source supply valve, and tamper protection arrangements.
More recently, attention has been directed toward preventing ready actuation of such lighters by persons normally not able to appreciate the potential danger of the flame. Individuals normally contemplated in these efforts are young children, in the age category younger than five years.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,784,601 to Nitta relates to a gas lighter having an L-shaped slideable stopper which is positionable to prevent descent of a gas lever which controls fuel flow. The lighter is rendered operable by moving the stopper outward so that its vertical leg is displaced from the top surface of the lighter housing. The L-shaped slideable stopper must be manually moved into its locking position each time it is desired to lock the lighter.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,784,602 to Nitta relates to a gas lighter having an L-shaped slideable stopper which is positionable to prevent descent of a gas lever which controls fuel flow. The lighter is rendered operable by moving the stopper inward so that its vertical pin engages a hole in the surface of the lighter housing. The L-shaped slideable stopper must be manually moved into its locking position each time it is desired to lock the lighter.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,786,248 to Nitta relates to a piezoelectric lighter equipped with a thumb-latch slideably fitted within a lighter casing. The thumb latch is manually slideable into and out of a position which interferes with depression of a thumb-pusher. The lighter is rendered operable by manually sliding the thumb-latch to an unlocked position. After operation of the lighter a user must manually slide the thumb-latch to its locked position in order to lock the lighter.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,904,180 to Nitta relates to a piezoelectric lighter equipped with a lock means which automatically returns to a locked position after use of the lighter. The lock means includes a stopper and a leaf-spring which keeps the stopper urged toward the windshield. The lighter may only be operated after the stopper is drawn backwards, away from the windshield. The lighter cannot maintain the stopper in the drawn back position without the application of constant force by a user. That is, no means are provided to maintain the lighter in an unlocked configuration.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,895,032 to Fisher relates to a lighter in which a manual control means is movable out of engagement with a shoulder portion of the lighter so as to enable the manual control means to be depressed thereby causing the lighter to operate. The control means returns to its position in engagement with the shoulder portion after use of the lighter. The lighter cannot maintain the control means in its out of engagement position without the application of constant force by a user.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,830,603 to Cirami relates to a cigarette lighter in which a locking mechanism is provided partially under a valve-actuating push-button and extends into a compartment appended to but distinct from a fuel compartment. The locking mechanism relocks itself after each depression of the push-button. In particular, one end of a stiffly flexible spring steel wire is held firmly in place in the compartment. Another end of the spring steel wire forms a probe extending into a channel provided in the underside of the push-button. The spring steel wire, in a locked configuration, prevents depression of the push-button by engaging a low ceiling on the underside of the push-button. A portion of the spring steel wire in the form of a loop extending outward from the lighter is accessible by an operator and may be suitably moved by the operator thereby causing the probe to move within the channel in the underside of the push-button.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,832,596 to Morris, Sr. relates to a cigarette lighter having a stop member slideably mounted thereon for releasably engaging a gas valve actuating lever. In particular, a spring biased stop member is slideably mounted on a top portion of a conventional disposable cigarette lighter. The stop member is biased so as to place one of its ends under the lighter's gas valve actuating lever so as to prevent movement of the lever in a direction which may open the gas valve. The lever may be actuated once the stop member is pushed in a direction opposite to the biasing force of the spring so as to slide the end which is under the lighter's gas valve outward.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,717,335 to Loveless relates to a cigarette lighter in which rotation of a spark-producing wheel is limited. In particular, the spark-producing wheel may be rotated in one direction to deliver a spark toward a nozzle through which gaseous fuel is passed, thereby causing the fuel to ignite and operating the lighter. Rotation of the spark-producing wheel in the other direction may deliver a spark away from the nozzle. The spark-producing wheel has a pin-shaped structure attached thereto which serves to limit the rotation of the wheel to under 360.degree. by contacting the housing structure. Thus, whether a spark indeed is produced depends upon the direction of attempted rotation and the position of the pin-shaped structure relative to the housing structure. In theory, once the lighter is operated and the fuel ignited, and the pin-shaped structure has traversed its entire path of travel, subsequent operation of the lighter is impeded since the pin-shaped structure comes into contact with the housing, preventing a spark from occurring in the vicinity of the fuel nozzle.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,028,043 and 4,049,370 each to Neyret relate to presale tamper protection mechanisms which partially surround a spark-producing wheel, fuel nozzle or depressible valve actuation member of a lighter. These presale tamper protection mechanisms are attached to the lighter housing by frangible webs and are removed by a purchaser after sale of the lighter to expose the spark-producing wheel, fuel nozzle and/or depressible valve actuation member. However, such a presale tamper protection mechanism is of limited value once initially removed by a purchaser.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,547,566 to Tamarin and 3,899,286 to Lockwood et al. relate to lighters having orientation sensing mechanisms which hinder or prevent actuation of the lighter in an inverted position. Unfortunately, such mechanisms may not provide a sufficient degree of child resistancy to young children who tamper with the lighter since they merely hinder operation in prescribed orientations.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,921,420 to Johnston relates to a disposable lighter having a release means that is physically separated from the conventional lighting means. The lighter may only be operated once the release means is released. The distance separating the release means and the conventional lighting means is intended to be sufficiently large so as to make it difficult for small children to operate the lighter.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,074,781 to Fujita relates to a cigarette lighter having a lock member which must be rotated in a specified direction towards one side of the lighter so as to allow a depressible valve actuator to be depressed and the lighter to operate.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,076,783 to Fremund relates to a lighter having a depressible valve actuator which is coupled to a vertical rod which extends to an opposite end of the lighter where it contacts a locking member. The locking member must first be displaced so as to enable depression of the valve actuator.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,090,893 to Floriot relates to a lighter having a slide member which, when in a first position, prevents depression of a valve actuator. The slide member is slideably movable to a second position in which the valve actuator may be depressed. The slide member is retained in each of the first and second positions by its interaction with and configuration relative to the lighter housing. The slide member is initially moved from its second position toward its first position by forces applied directly from the valve actuator. The slide member is not capable of vertical movement. Additionally, the slide member protrudes from the lighter when in its first position.
Many mechanisms which are designed to render operation of the lighter more difficult by certain users are unnecessarily complicated, present difficulty in their manufacture and/or exhibit a high likelihood of mechanical failure during use. Another disadvantage found in some devices is that the particular construction employed limits the shape and size of the lighter housing due to the requirement that the housing be large enough to accommodate such mechanism(s). Further disadvantages relate to the relative ease with which some mechanisms may be defeated and to the reliability of the mechanisms. For example, some mechanisms may be overridden or removed with relative ease. Additionally, some devices are not equally adaptable for use by both right-handed and left-handed users, and some include inconveniently shaped or positioned levers or knobs which need to be actuated by the user in order to operate the lighter. Similarly, some devices which may indeed be equally adaptable to both right-handed and left-handed users employ a mechanism which is actuated differently and/or moved to different positions depending on whether the user is right-handed or left-handed. Furthermore, some of these devices require repositioning of the lighter in an operator's hand after actuation of the mechanism and before the lighter is operated to produce a flame. For example, some lighters include an actuatable mechanism located sufficiently far from a valve actuation means, or on another side of the lighter than the valve actuation means, so as to result in awkward operation of the lighter. Additionally, some devices require an excessive number of components while some devices include components which are configured such as to require an excessive force to actuate a depressible valve actuator. For example, some devices include a latch which requires an excessive amount of force on the valve actuator in order to automatically return the latch to its normally latched position after the lighter is operated. Some devices include a latch having an overly obvious protrusion which is too easily moved into a noninterfering position. Additionally, a portion of such a latch or protrusion is too easily broken off or otherwise removed by a user, thus rendering the lighter either permanently locked and inoperable, or rendering the latch effectively in a permanent unlocked position and thus permanently overridden.
Although it is known to prevent or hinder presale actuation of a depressible valve actuation member or actuation of a lighter in a specified orientation, none of the above-described lighters provides an efficiently manufacturable, relatively small, reliable mechanism for preventing actuation of the depressible valve actuation member and equally adaptable for use by both right-handed and left-handed users and which is similarly actuated by both right-handed and left-handed users.
As will be appreciated, development of a "child-proof" lighter per se is probably not viable. At best, it can be reasonably sought to create a lighter having features which enhance its child-resistant capability, but how "child-resistant" a lighter will be will depend upon many factors and circumstances. Nevertheless, any lighter having features which enhance its child-resistant capability will have limitations with respect to young children, and no such lighter should provide parents or adults with a false sense of security so that they may become less cautious in their handling of the lighter or permit access to the lighter by young children. Further, such lighters should not be made so difficult to light as to cause adults to use alternative forms of lighting, i.e., matches, which are generally considered to be potentially more dangerous.
The present invention is directed toward a reliable flame producing lighter which is selectively actuatable in such a manner as to provide a substantial degree of difficulty for young children--younger than five years--to actuate the lighter and produce a flame, while being user friendly and capable of actuation by adults.